It's been a while I haven't been on and to see a topic like this right away is right up my alley! Ender you hit it right on the button. If they are stuffing you so much while you sleep that it kills your appetite for the next 8-12 hours there's not much point to it. It would be better for you to space those calories out over 5-6 small meals through the day, especially if you are working out. Your body will go into catabolism and eat muscle stores that your trying so hard to get. To gain muscle try to take in about 2grams of protein/lb of body weight per day spaced out through out the day along with good amounts of good carbs and fats as usual. Train "heavy" with as much compound exercises as possible. I use the term heavy like that to say that it relative to the indiviual. A good way I know I'm doing what needs to be done is that if I'm not sore two days after the workout then I didn't push heavy enough or did enough reps so it's time to increase. Increase gradually tho don't go in the gum and play hero and try to lift up the rack you'll only get injuries which will set your growth back. Typically I'd say it takes 2 weeks to get out of the really bad soreness from starting lifting weights so the 1st 2 weeks will be agony but don't slack off! Go and push anyway regardless of the soreness you have to get the mindset of no pain no gain. Compound exercises work best cause they trigger hormone increases and lots of other things that'll tell your body to grow. It's all about adaptation, the more stress you put on you body the more it'll have to adapt to be able to handle the stress, that's why it's important to have constant progression. I can help you with lots more info if you'd like just e-mail me lilmac7@hotmail.com. I have quite a bit of knowledge where this is concerned. I started when I was just under 100lbs now I weigh between 135-140 @ 5'4" tall ~8-10% bodyfat and I compete as a bodybuilder in the INBF. In late 2002 I actually declined getting a g-tube because I didn't want to ruin my abbs and I made up my mind that I was going to get myself in shape the hard way, it was hard but believe me as you start seeing the results the motivations just goes through the roof. It was never my intention to compete in bodybuilding but when the result sarted showing I just went into overdrive and people started noticing and eventually asking why I didn't compete, and it's became my lifestyle since. And the benefits health wise for my CF is incredible, but that again is a long story so I wont bither get into that unless anybody is curious to know. Anyway all the best man!
Mark
Mark